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Directory of Software Collections

DIRECTORY OF SOFTWARE COLLECTIONS

Note: the abbreviations: CHM and SPG are used in the following for "Computer History Museum" and "Software Preservation Group", respectively.

GOAL: The goal of this project is to collect and abstract links on the World Wide Web of general interest related to the history of computer software. The model for this project is work done in other CHM/SPG projects - FORTRAN/LISP by Paul Mc Jones, NLS/AUGMENT by K. GUST, and APL by Chris Langreiter (these are abstracted below).

APPROACH: Initially links of general interest will be sought from SPG members, linked and abstracted. The next step will be to contact developers of these pages and attempt to interest them in mutual cooperation with CHM; cross listing of sites as a minimum; mirrored sites as a goal (in order to provide long term availability of the software, documentation, images and other information on these sites.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Bernard Peuto defined and is guiding this project. Paul McJones has made many contributions and his work on Early FORTRAN is the model for this project. Mike Powell provided guidance as to the use of PLONE and the organization of the SPG site. Finally many people have contributed suggestions for sites to be included.

This site contains a history of accomplishments of a very active and prolific SPG project member, Paul McJones, as well as his blog, started in June of 2004, comprising monthly documentation in several areas of his interest: FORTRAN and LISP. Also many links are provided to the development history of one of the early and most significant mainframe relational data base programs: SYSTEM-R by IBM.

"This Web site holds a collection of the Song 99 Bottles of Beer programmed in different programming languages. Actually the song is represented in 939 different programming languages and variations." Created originally by Tim Robinson during 1994 - 1998 with 227 versions. Currently maintained by Oliver Schade

This site contains links to software and documentation for classic (1950-1980's) computers. As of September, 2011 there are over 20,600 documents containing over 2.08 million pages in the archive. Additionally there are links to more sites containing similar information. Two archives are described. The first is the Software Archive which contains software in the form of listings, paper tape, and compressed files for 16 companies/organizations - games, utility programs and a variety of applications. An index lists the files and date added to the archive. The second is the PDF Archive which contains listings, images of microfiche, and images of manuals for several hundred computers, companies, and organizations. Three indices are maintained: by date of addition to archive, What's New (name and content sorted by date of addition), and the contents of the archive, sorted by vendor.

The goal of this project is to locate source code, design documents, and other materials concerning the original IBM 704 FORTRAN compiler. FORTRAN was chosen because it was the first high-level programming language and the first high-quality optimizing compiler. This is a pilot project of the CHM/SPG to develop expertise in the collection, preservation, and presentation of historic software. Comments, suggestions, and donations of additional materials are greatly appreciated.

The goal of this project is to locate source code, design documents, and other materials concerning the original LISP I/1.5 system, and as many of its follow-ons as possible. LISP was one of the earliest high-level programming languages and introduced many ideas such as garbage collection, recursive functions, symbolic expressions, and dynamic type-checking. This is a pilot project of the CHM/SPG to develop expertise in the collection, preservation, and presentation of historic software. Comments, suggestions, and donations of additional materials are greatly appreciated.

The goal of this project (similar to the FORTRAN/FORTRAN II and LISP sister projects) is to locate source code, design documents, tech notes, books, recorded talks and other materials concerning early APL implementations such as APL\360. This project is just getting started (2005) and will be a work in progress for a long while. If you have suggestions as to what materials to include, what efforts to prioritized and any information on aspects of the history of APL not yet covered, please contact me.

The goal of this project is similar to that of the other CHM/SPG language projects: to collect and preserve software, documentation, images and oral documentation about NLS/AUGMENT. Permission was received to clone the only existing NLS system in the world from Douglas Engelbart. In 2005 a clean, working TOPS-20 (v7.0) system, installed. On January 18, 2006 - There was a demonstration of the system clone running on Linux and of the version on Doug Engelbart's machine for the SPG. The demonstration was video taped and should be visible soon on the SPG web site.

The Computer History Museum Software Preservation Group is exploring how to collect software in support of the museum's overall mission. The work of the SPG includes: Preserving and collecting software; Identifying and working with other people preserving and collecting software; and Sponsoring and assisting software preservation and collection activity. This web site is used to: Communicate and coordinate the activities of the SPG; Display the works-in-progress; Solicit assistance from potential volunteers and collaborators

"This virtual museum includes an eclectic collection of World Wide Web (WWW) hyperlinks connected with the history of computing and on-line computer-based exhibits available both locally and around the world. It was founded on 1 June 1995, more that ten years ago, so is an example of an "old" virtual museum itself. Topics include: The Virtual Library Pioneers of Computing Local virtual exhibits Corporate history and overviews History of computing organizations General historical information Computer-related museums Online exhibits and information Personal collections Selected newsgroups Computer simulators The future Other links

This site contains information on the CHAC which appears to have disbanded in 1998; Kip Crosby was president. The organization collected hardware, software, a list of other organizations which are preserving computer history,and published a quarterly magazine, The Analytical Engine (Kip Crosby, managing editor). The History Page contains hundreds of links to other web pages of significance to computer history. The top index to this listing is: Computer history, Electronic calculator history, and Pre-electronic computing. Unfortunately, many of these links are invalid as of April, 2006.

The Netlib repository of subprograms contains freely available software, documents, and databases of interest to the numerical, scientific computing, and other communities (mostly in FORTRAN). The repository is maintained by AT&T Bell Laboratories, the University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and by colleagues world-wide. The collection is replicated at several sites around the world, automatically synchronized, to provide reliable and network efficient service to the global community. Thousands of subroutines are contained in approximately 100 libraries and include documentation.

The GNU Project was launched in 1984 to develop a complete UNIX like operating system which is free software. Variants of the GNU operating system, which use the kernel Linux, are now widely used; though these systems are often referred to as ?Linux?, they are more accurately called GNU/Linux systems. This site describes the software and how to obtain it.

The GNU Scientific Library (GSL) is a numerical library for C and C++ programmers providing a wide range of mathematical routines such as random number generators, special functions and least-squares fitting. There are over 1000 functions in total with an extensive test suite. . It is free software under the GNU General Public License. GSL builds on any UNIX-like system with an ANSI C compiler. Where possible the routines have been based on reliable public-domain FORTRAN packages such as FFTPACK and QUADPACK, which the developers of GSL have reimplemented in C with modern coding conventions. The current version is GSL-1.8. It was released on 10 April 2006. This is a stable release.

"MCS has long been a leader in the development of robust, reliable software. As early as the 1970s, Argonne spearheaded a series of software engineering projects that culminated in the release of EISPACK, LINPACK, FUNPACK, and MINPACK. Today, MCS researchers are continuing this tradition, with an added emphasis on portability and scalability. Thousands of researchers in academia and industry use our software in applications that include computational chemistry, protein structure, vortex dynamics, astrophysics, climate modeling, mathematics and logic, CFD, and reservoir simulation. These libraries are availble in FORTRAN source code.

"The Math Forum is the leading online resource for improving math learning, teaching, and communication since 1992. The organization comprises teachers, mathematicians, researchers, students, and parents using the power of the Web to learn math and improve math education. The organization offers a wealth of problems and puzzles; online mentoring; research; team problem solving; collaborations; and professional development. Students have fun and learn a lot. Educators share ideas and acquire new skills." Links to over 150 collections of mathematical software for the PC and Mac are provided.

The Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) is a specialized agency within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The mission of the NEA is to assist its Member countries in maintaining and further developing, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for the safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The NEA Data Bank collects and distributes computer programs which fall into many subject categories including Reactor Physics, Fuel Management, Safety, Heat Transfer, Structural Analysis, Data Management, Engineering and many other. These programs were developed by US National Laboratories, Universities and vendors for the Atomic Energy Commission/Nuclear Regulatory Agency and their international counterparts. Information on hundreds of programs is available. FORTRAN source code is available for most.

The mission of the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Geothermal Program is to work in partnership with U.S. industry to establish geothermal energy as an economically competitive contributor to the U.S. energy supply. This software collections comprises dozens of programs for studying and analysing Geothermal Systems. FORTRAN source code, program information, and availability are provided.

Information on the availability of application programs in more than 50 disciplines such as Aerodynamics, Artificial Intelligence, Chemistry and Thermodynamics and etc. Links to many more software collection are given. Many of these programs are available in FORTRAN and source code is available.

The Radiation Safety Information Computational Center (RSICC) is a Department of Energy Specialized Information Analysis Center (SIAC) authorized to collect, analyze, maintain, and distribute computer software and data sets in the areas of radiation transport and safety. RSICC is a computer code center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Hundreds of programs are available in the areas of Fuel Cycle, Fusion, Isotope Generation/Decay, Nuclear Data, Shielding, Accelerator Applications and many more. Descriptions and availability of the programs are discussed. Many of these programs are available in FORTRAN and source code is available.

The Reactor Analysis and Engineering Division has developed a number of large-scale computer codes for next generation fission reactor, fuel cycle concepts, technologies for safely disposing of spent reactor fuels and other nuclear materials, and the safety and operation of current generation nuclear facilities. These codes are validated and maintained for application in a variety of nuclear energy research programs. The site discusses these programs and their availability. Many of these programs are available in FORTRAN and source code is available.

The Observatories and Research Facilities for European Seismology (ORFEUS) site contains information on hundreds of mainframe and PC programs as well as links to other collections of software within this field. This page contains links to seismological software (freeware).

This site contains a information on the history of early PCs, their operating systems and emulators. There are links to collections for specific PCs containing history, setups and contact information as well as software for several early 8 bit computers, including the Toshiba Vintage, TRS-80, IBM 5140, Microace and others.

This site contains software, images and information for the TRS-80. Utility programs, operating systems, FORTRAN, BASIC programs, games, and many files developed by the author. All of these are downloadable.

This is the official TRS-80 Dutch User group site and contains information, emulators and downloadable software including a TRS-80 Model I Newdos/80 DSDD Emulator, tools to transfer TRS-80 diskettes to the PC, hardware, software information and the history of the group. The files are oriented toward systems and not applications. The most recent update was June 2003.

Information, software and links for the TRS-80 computers are available on this site. In particular, a Model I/III/4 emulator for Unix, Misosys software and documents, LDOS and Me, file format descriptions, prehistory of BinHex, Catweasel Floppy Read/Write Tools, viewers, downloadable software and links to almost 100 TRS-80 oriented sites. As of June 2006 the site is active.

There is a large amount of information, documentation, software, books, magazines, patches, tips, etc. about the TRS-80 line on this site. There are dozens of emulators for current PC systems, utilities to allow TRS-80 to IBM conversion of .diskettes and tapes. Hundreds of application programs in Basic and assembly language (Z80) are available thru a search facility. Many, many more items of historical interest are available and there are links to many other TRS-80 sites. Work on this site is current thru June 2006.

"This web site is dedicated to collecting, restoring and simply playing with old (A.K.A. vintage, classic, antique, outdated or just plain junk) computers. Some of these systems, such as the Altair 8800, Apple ][ and IBM PC have tons of historical significance. These were built before 1985 (with a very few exceptions), they were built primarily to be used by individuals or very small groups and they were built to be sold inexpensively". Descriptions and specifications are available for nearly 100 models of 25 vintage personal computers. More than 50 links are provide to other sites which document vintage computers. This site was active as late as April 2006.

Eli's Software Encyclopedia is one of the world's oldest and largest sources of vintage computer software, with an inventory of over 250,000 pieces of software spanning more than 17,000 different titles and formats. Specialties include Vintage software, Old software, Commodore 64 software, and Apple II software.

The goal of this page is to provide descriptions of items in the old "Visible Storage" area at NASA Ames Building 126, alphabetically by manufacturer. Unfortunately, manufacturer name is not unique, due to purchases, such as Bendix (G-15) purchased by Control Data, or Convex by Hewlett/Packard. To some extent, this list gives priority to the original manufacturer's name. Picture credits All pictures, unless otherwise qualified, were taken by Ed Thelen of material owned by Computer History Museum under the non-commercial rule. Permission to use images for commercial purposes must be obtained from Computer History Museum. Last update to site was in 2003.